Personally, I'm probably going to pick it up sight unseesn -- I LOVE the concept of "The Anything Deck," but I'm not thrilled with the method given in "The Art of Astonishment." I've played with it a bit myself and come up with some ideas, but I'm still going to pick up "Deep Astonishment."

My company, The Art of Magic is the exclusive distrubutor (selling to dealers) of Deep Astonishment. Paul Harris and Rodney Whitlock have taken this effect light years ahead of The Anything Deck. With some diabolical gimmicks and thought processes they have removed any sleights and turned it into an ultimate closing effect.

Just a few quotes from some people you know:

"I did it for my stage hand, and when he saw his magic word, 'Jedi,' he went pale and looked like he might cry or something. I don't know... This may be the greatest single card effect ever invented."- Mac King

"With Deep Astonishment, Paul Harris has evolved card magic into something that transcends all expectations. This effect evokes a primal shift to a spectator's sense of reality, and the diabolicallly easy method is a true joy to perform. It is a rare masterpiece on all levels!"-Michael Ammar

"When I saw my magic word, "Babe, " inside the wallet, I was stopped cold...Totally fried! One of the best close-up effects I've seen in years!"- Gary Ouellet

You can order it from Hank Lee right now. I suspect it will be a short wait, as the distributor says shipping will commence on June 28th. (Or was it the 24th?) Sounds like they are waiting for the printed cards from the factory.

In the Anything Deck, there is little reason suggested as to why your prediction of their word is made in this rather unusual format. Do you know if the new version addresses this? If I could look into the future, and see right now a word a spectator will think of in a few hours, why in the world would I write it, one letter at a time, on the backs of cards? If you don't address this, I'm afraid that the only thing a lay person will think is that it's necessary in order for the trick to work. And, they'd be right.

Dennis Loomis wrote: "If I could look into the future, and see right now a word a spectator will think of in a few hours, why in the world would I write it, one letter at a time, on the backs of cards?"

Hey Dennis,

I can't really answer your question other than to say that spectators find it astonishing(!) when you spread a pile of cards and see their word written, one letter at a time. Also, if the word was written across only one card the effect would not be as strong- to laymen, switching in an entire packet doesn't cross their mind at all.

'Anything Deck' is probably the strongest card effect I do and I look foward to 'Deep Astonishment'. Try it out! I guarantee you'll you'll agree with me.

Rest assured I will be trying it out. Maybe I'm over analyzing the thing. Not sure I agree that the audience reacts stronger to the packet of individual letters than to a written prediction. But, I'm only conjecturing, you have the results of your work with the Anything Deck.

Success is an subjective term. But consider this, in the first nine years after it was released, James George has sold over 200,000 Invisible Thread Reels! Yes, you read it right, over two hundred thousand!

That come from Mike Ammar's interview with James on Ammar's "Easy to Master Invisible Thread Miracles, Volume 1."

Sorry about the incorrect e-mail address, I had never updated my profile. My email address is cardsculpture@cs.com. I pick up Deep Astonishment from the manufacturer in Ohio on Thursday and begin shipping on Monday the 24th. Some of the dealers are getting next day delivery on their request so those of you who have already ordered should be seeing your effect PDQ. Be sure and let us know what you think. Paul Harris and Rodney Whitlock will have their website up in the next couple of days at www.deepastonishment.com which will not only allow you to purchase direct from them but will have a tip section which magicians can submit their ideas and hints on the effect. They already have several which will be on the site from day one. Let me know what you think of the effect when you get it. I personally think its killer. So much that I bought the exclusive on it. So support your local dealers!!Thanks,Cliff JamesThe Art of Magic

Regarding the question of what is a "hit" in our field, if a book sells 1500 copies these days that's extremely good.A new videotape is doing well if it sells 1000 copies.A trick does well if it sells 2000 copies.Home runs on these items are different, and rare:A home run book sells 5000 + copiesA home run video sells 2000 + copiesA home run trick sells 10,000 + copiesThe mark up is lowest on books and highest on tricks. Ergo, someone who comes up with a great trick that sells a lot is going to make at least five times the money of someone who kills themselves for years writing and illustrating a book.

I just posted a response to some in the Close up section. I have Deep Astonishment and have been beta testing it for several months. Even those of you who have been doing The Anything Deck won't believe this new version. It is easy to do, requires no slights and gets incredible responses. I have had people scream, turn and walk away in disbelief, or stand with their mouths open. I even got a hired for another party because a guest could not believe it. For those of you who have not taken advantage of The Anything Deck have got to add this to your repertoire. If you post a response, I will as soon as I can, answer you. Many of you may also have read Cliff James's responses. I know it's hard to believe but you've got to get, do it, and then believe it.

I don't think its happened yet. I saw their ad in Genii and soon got very annoyed because its mis-leading. It implies when it says "Ask your favorite dealer for..." that some of them might have the item.

The only dealer on the web I can find with it is Hank Lee and I really dislike ordering from him as he takes a month of sundays to ship anything unless its a large order.

So I emailed the email addy given in the ad and they just told me I could get it from them - well ok, if I want to pay $28 for it (inc shipping), the appeal of going to 'a favorite dealer' was that I could make up an order and get some other things I wanted.

I guess they'll get it into other places eventually, in the mean time, if you want one you have to get it direct from them and they don't have a web site so you have to email your credit card number (how secure!) or you have to get it from Hank Lee and hope he sends it before Christmas.

The website www.deepastonishment.com has been loaded but the hosting company has had a glich. They tell us it should be showing up on servers in the next couple of days. It is supposedly already up on netscape, it will load server by server with the last to load being AOL supposedly because of its size. As far as dealers who have the product: Daytona Magic, Hocus Pocus, Hank Lee, Stevens Magic, Presto Magic, Denny and Lee, Magic Market, Mel's Magic off the top of my head as I'm typing. Deep Astonishment's ads were not intentional misleading we are wholesaling the effect and want to support your local dealer. By you asking them, they are reminded to stock the effect in their store. The effect did not begin shipping until June 24th. Ask your favorite dealer to order it from me and I'll get it out to them the next day.

The website when loaded will be devoted solely to this one effect. It will have a way to order direct from the creator's (bypassing me) and have a tips section that will help people no matter where they purchased the effect.

Hope this has cleared up some of the questions and thanks for all the interest.

Sorry for the second post,Rodney Whitlock can be reached at 1-440-585-2463 at Yendor's World of Magic 11-7 Mon-Fri and 10-5:30 on Saturday if you want to purchase the effect directly from him and use a credit card.Cliff James

I really don't want to "poo on everything", but if anyone's looking for an opinion from someone who isn't a friend of Paul's or involved in the trick's production, mine is that it isn't as good as the original. Of course I have no interest in giving the method away, but in their attempt to completely eliminate any sleights, they wind up killing a flea with a sledgehammer. And I don't believe the "wallet" is made exactly right. Nor do I like this blank face question mark card that you pull out of the wallet first, it just gets away from the idea of "normal cards". There are times in the instructions when they say certain things are "okay". However, in my mind they will telegraph part of the method. But we do live in an "Easy To Master" magical world it seems. Personally, I don't mind having to hold a little finger break on occasion.What all this has done is to remind me of how great the original is. And to happily go through Paul's books again. I really do like the books! And perhaps one could take what they like from both versions, eliminate what they don't like, and come up with something that's right for them. This is what I will do! Of course, at least 90% of what I'm left with will be the original.

Don't we buy dreams? I used to call magic catalogues Wish Books..."I wish I could do that...I wish I could afford to buy that..."

The closer an advertised trick coincides with our daydreams of what magic should be, the more successful the item.

After a wrote a bogus review of a non-existent book (BEYOND ERDNASE), which featured believable but stunningly enticing features, I received more calls and inquiries on ANY book or magazine I ever published. If the book had truly existed, it would have sold over 5000 copies. AS it stands (which may be a testament to SOMETHING), I've personally never sold more than 300 items of anything...

What would Houdini have paid for Brainwave or an invisible thread reel?

Well said, Jon. I may have come across as too harsh in my "review". I do like the idea of the cards from the wallet being a different color. For me some changes will have to be made, that's all. And there's really nothing wrong with that. I absolutely love Paul's contributions to the art. The good news is that I checked the website, and its up and running! And there are a few good tips that help take away some of my "issues". And surely there will be more to come. Maybe even one or two from me! So, DEEP ASTONISHMENT, as is, not quite my cup of tea. but the seed has definitely been planted. I'd like to send a thank you to Paul. Thank you, Paul.

I haven't seen this much excitement about a new trick in quite a while. Goes to show that Paul Harris is still "the man". Obviously, I'm a big fan.

But, I was also somewhat disappointed when I received "Deep Astonishment". It lacks the old Chuck Martinez presentation and there's very little of Paul's wit and personality there. In fact, the instructions seem to be written for a somewhat slow witted beginner. It's basically a collaboration based on a Paul Harris effect. However, in my opinion, the trick is potentially great.

As John Blaze said, the tips on the web site are good. Aside from the vast improvements in Tip #1, I think the props are also part of the problem. I think I will try using the inner leather checkbook holder from my Mullica Wallet rather than the cheap plastic wallet included and a professionally made gaffed card.

The tips on their web site are maybe something they should hide and give the url to people who bought the effect because if you take the effect description, you already know the 'The anywhere deck' and you read those tips... it's not a long stretch to figure out what the 'improvements' are that have been made and exactly how deep astonishment works.

What...Now that the trick is out, no one wants to talk about it anymore? Magicians (and humans) always want what they can't have. Guess I'll see you all over in the "Upcoming Books..." section.Anyway, my mind is REELING with ideas for this trick. Its almost as frustrating as "Three Fly" with its many possible variants! Almost.Robert, I too thought of using the Mullica Wallet insert. However, I'd suggest you forget all the gimmickery that goes along with Deep Astonishment handling, and use a little finger break!I really look forward to seeing what others come up with. So I hope the folks running the website keep it up to date.Now let's hear from the rest of you!

Once one goes into Deep Astonishment Recovery, as Blazing John points out, the brain kicks into overdrive. I already have been sent (or have found by other means) 10 variations on the "Anytime Deck" THEME. Cardmen of course will figure out methods to wend their way to the climax. The blowoff is what puts them into a tizzy.

What's interesting to me is that Mavens of Variant Ways didn't pick up on the potential and possibilities after reading the entry in THE ART OF ASTONISHMENT? The rudiments were there; the "carcass was ripe for the picking."

Well, someone's going to say this, so I may as well be the first here:

The main gripes about DA (philosophical choices aside) seem to be that the wallet and "thick card" are not of appropriate quality. It would seem that for the money, at least the card would have been of "standard" quality.

Is the new wallet going to be a seperate item? Any upgrade on the card? Any comments to the folks who have already purchased the routine?

The wallet is the worst part of the effect. It is really cheap looking, and I was somewhat disappointed because the ads said something like "you put your wallet on the card". Well, it's your wallet because you now own it, because it came with the effect. But it's not the wallet I use everyday, which is what I refer to as "my wallet". Kind of...sneaky wording.I would rather have seen more charged for the effect, and have a decent working wallet included.It's still a killer effect, and what makes it so different than the Anytime Deck (it is admittedly a derivative) is it's non-sleight working and quick reset.The thick card in my opinion is not a problem.

As I have stated in our magazine ads, our intent in marketing "Deep Astonishment" is to offer an effect that will afford "everyone in the magic community" the opportunity to experience both the pure joy of performing "Deep Astonishment" and the feeling of elation gained from their audiences' reactions. To achieve our goal we have developed an effect and written instructions which we believe will allow anyone to master "Deep Astonishment" with a resonable amount of practice. We have also spent months developing props which perfectly blend the essential "Deep Astonishment" elements of ease of performance, natural appearance, audience impact, and affordability. These props are being used by some of the finest proffesional magicians in the US with unparalleled success.

The wallet we have provided is specially made for us to perform its required "Deep Astonishment" functions while appearing to be a coupon book, checkbook holder, daytimer wallet, or any other similar innocent appearing pocket wallet. It has proven totally reliable in hundreds of performances by avariety of professional and amatuer magicians. We do recognize that some "Deep Astonishment" performers are showing interest in a "higher quality", leather wallet. We have heard you and are currently designing a "Deep Astonishment Gourmet Wallet" to meet your needs. We would greatly appreciate any suggestions from "Deep Astonishment" performers on features and functions that thhey would like to see incorporated into this leather "Gourmet Wallet"

The special shim card is another very functional "Deep Astonishment" prop which has never been challenged in hundreds of performances. A "professionally manufactued" shim card's cost(up to $20.00 each) is not justified considering our initial goal and the success of the shim card supplied with "Deep Astonishment".

We hope that we have answered some of your questions and look forward to many more discussions fostered by "Deep Astonishment". Our eyes and ears are open at www.deepastonioshment.com.

I hear what some of you are talking about as far as the wallet is concerned. The "better wallet" is only something you as a magician may want. As far as the audience is concerned, in the several months I have been performing Deep Astonishment, no one has ever commented on the quality, looks or anything else about the wallet. And, the wallet I used wasn't even a leather looking wallet but a smooth surfaced one. The response is the thing not the look of the wallet.